[Note: In this third in a series of articles “On Being the Church” it will be clear that I make reference to my own community in Brentwood, TN, but the examples for our own life obviously has application to any other church.] In what we call our Friday Friars men’s Bible study at Church of the Good Shepherd in Brentwood, Tennessee, we were working our way through the Gospel of Mark when my wife and I arrived in mid-October... Read more
Ministry, like life, takes us to the limits of our strength and our ability. If those of us who are ordained don’t learn what it means to confess our dependence upon the grace of God in seminary, walking with people through the challenges of their lives should complete the task. But no challenge for our parishioners takes us to that thin, fragile place like the neurological illnesses that rob our brothers and sisters of speech, thought and motion, including dementia,... Read more
This article continues a series “On Being the Church.” But allow me to begin by reminding us why we are talking about the church at all. One: Because the church is God’s instrument of salvation. Two: Because the church is the place where our relationship with God and with one another is healed. Three: Because the church is the body of Christ. And four: Because we can’t walk away from the church without walking away from Jesus. It’s just that... Read more
This article is the first in a series “On being the church.” My focus here is from Acts, chapter 2, verses 1 to 21, and the title of this article is “Blessed by our differences.” But before we can turn to that subject, we need to talk a bit about the importance of the church itself, because – if there was ever any doubt that American Christians don’t understand the significance of the church – it is clear now... Read more
With the Covid-19 lockdown of a year ago, we (the staff at the church where I serve) began having some fruitful conversations about the importance of online communities. It was clear to us that the pandemic had made virtual community-building indispensable. And, as we exit the strictures we placed upon one another, clearly, our efforts will continue. Ironically, however, the same strictures had a way of underlining the fragility of in-person community. Our church, like every other church in... Read more
Most of us are aware of the massive cargo ship that blocked the Suez Canal for six days last month. One of the most fascinating images of that event were the satellite photos of the ship and the incredible number of other ships that were blocked from passing through the canal. Inevitably, of course, one wag picked up on the satellite image and created a meme out of the photo, adding the caption, “Don’t worry. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s... Read more
Some biblical passages attract more errant interpretations than others. It isn’t the stories’ fault. The ones that do are often among the most powerful and vivid of them. John’s description of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples is one of them. There are a lot of reasons for that misunderstanding. Feet are a big part of it. So, is the business of washing feet – and neither of them have a part in our public rituals. So, the... Read more
Increasingly social scientists and others are noting that politics have become the new American religion. This is a claim that many have been making, including John McWhorter, who is associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University; Emilio Gentile, who is an Italian historian who specializes in the study of fascism; and countless other opinion writers. This judgment is not just a construct or an educated guess. Studies conducted by the Pew Foundation over the years suggest that... Read more
And what he has written about the prospect of dying is worth reading. You can find it here and you should read it. None of us can promise how we will navigate dying. We all do it once. There is no dry run, no practice session, and – try though we may – there is no way to visualize the experience itself. As Keller notes, not even sitting with one another through that last challenge can prepare us for our... Read more
Some years ago when I was serving as Canon Educator at Washington National Cathedral, I invited Jack Miles to speak as part of a program devoted to what we called The Changing Face of God. Miles had written a New York Times best seller called, God, A Biography, that – among other things – explored Old Testament images. It was an intriguing book and I expected him to make an interesting contribution to the topic we were exploring. The Religious... Read more
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